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Every girl has dreamed about the perfect proposal. Every boy has had nightmares about coming up with the perfect proposal. Bender and I are no exception.

Ever since I could remember, I have always wanted a proposal during Christmas; arguably, but not with me, I will win, the most romantic time of the year. Unbeknownst to me, Bender, along with my mom, sister, and best friend had been plottinglying planning behind my back to pull off the perfect proposal. And did they ever succeed.

Bender came into town December 22nd to spend Christmas with me and my family. We had a couple busy days before Christmas: my friends’ annual Christmas Eve Eve party, a Christmas themed photoshoot at a Christmas treet farm (Bender’s idea), and lunch with my best friend and her mom in Dixon on Christmas Eve.

That first night, he presented me with a “Christmas Eve Eve Eve” gift, which he had never done before, but I am not one to turn down a gift. A copy of Mindy Kaling’s book – score! The next day was the day before Christmas Eve; traditionally the day that my friends and I hold our own Christmas. After getting home that night, he presented me with a “Christmas Eve Eve” gift; a new dress that he said I should wear for photos at the Christmas tree farm he found in Dixon. A little note: He has never picked out or bought clothes for me, so it did strike me as odd, but once again, I am not one to turn down a gift, especially a nice dress.

On Christmas Eve morning, I went on a run. When I got home, I took my time eating breakfast, checking blogs, and taking a shower, all while Bender tried to gently prod me into getting ready so we could “be on time” to take photos before lunch. I finally got ready, and after being turned down by my mom to join us, we were on our way. It was really cold that day, so I surprised myself by putting on the thin material dress and agreeing to trek through a giant Christmas tree farm, periodically taking off my coat for photos.

While walking through, we would stop and take photos. During photo sessions, I check the photos regularly to make sure we are getting what I need. Doing this on that day showed that Bender had no real intention of taking outfit photos of me; all the photos were out of focus, not taken when I was ready, etc. I thought he was being lazy. After barking orders at asking him to take more, and finally being satisfied on some photos next to a cute tree with a big red bow on it, we kept walking deeper into the farm.

Bender made a comment about how the farm should have decorated trees throughout, and a couple minutes later, low and behold, we found a nice tree, decorated with faux presents under it. Of course, we had to take our photos there. Bender set up the tripod and we took one together and then he instructed me to turn around and he would take my regular walking away/back photo. At this point my coat was off, I was freezing, and Bender was taking for-ev-er setting up the camera to take the photo from behind (I would later find out he was actually setting it up for video). I became slightly antsy and I admit that I started whining because I was cold and becoming impatient that I could not turn around. In the back of my mind, I assumed I was getting a “Christmas Eve” present, to go along with the theme of him giving me other presents each night leading up to Christmas, so truthfully, that is the only reason I stayed turned around.

The next thing I know, I am allowed to turn around, and Bender is on his knee holding out a ring. From there, it is slightly blurry; figurativly and literally: tears came from no where and were blurring my vision. The first thing out of my mouth, before he uttered anything was, “Shut up.” Nice, right? After he gave his little spiel, my word vomit struck again; “Are you sure?” He was obviously taken aback and claims he cannot remember his response, but I remember him laughing and saying yes. I vigoursly shook my head yes in response to his proposal, and after he asked me to say it outloud, it was offical and neither of us remember how the ring got on my finger.

I honestly think I was in shock the rest of the day.

After all the mushy, gooey, cheese, hug, kiss stuff, I see someone come out from behind some trees and it happens to be my best friend. I actually thought nothing weird of the fact that she was there at that moment; she’s there during all my big moments! But then her mom, my mom, and my sister all came out! They had been there early to decorate the tree, set up the faux gifts underneath, and mark the path so Bender would know how to get to the tree, ahem, the tree with the bow that I would not let him stop taking pictures of me at.

Excited with my mom and sister!

My beautiful mom!

My sister is jealous and trying to rip my ring off. Not at all staged.

My best friend and soul sister from another mister.

With Alyssa and her mom, who is like a second mom to me.

Face timing with the future in-laws.

One of the sweetest parts? Bender then cut down the tree and we took it home. We are hopefully planning on getting coasters made from it as wedding party and family gifts.

I had always wanted a Christmas proposal, and never wanted it done in public, but somehow he knew that the most imporant people in my life had to be there when it happened. The fact that they were hidden among the trees watching us is simultaneously hilarious, creepy, and awesome. Everything was perfect.

This proposal requried me to agree to a lot of things to get us to the destination, which, if you know me, sounds impossible. Bender said afterward that it was all the little “yeses” he was worried about, not the big one; Wearing the dress he bought for me, agreeing to go to lunch in Dixon (where the farm was located), turning around for a back photo, etc.

Hindsight is 20/20: A list of things I was totally oblivious to

The over abundance of suitcases Bender brought in town; he had one extra one for the tree decorations and gift boxes and bags

The constant “work” calls that took him out of the room; calls (and texts) for last minute planning

Alyssa posting a picture of a dress on my Facebook telling me she thought of me when she saw it and Bender gifting me that exact dress; Bender picked out several dresses and used her to see which I would like the best. He knew I would want to be dressed nicely for the proposal

Gifts leading up to Chistmas; he did not want it to be completely out of the ordinary when he gave me the dress and he knew that I would not dress up for our “lunch” in freezing cold weather

Bender’s urgency in making sure we had plenty of time at the Christmas tree farm for photos before lunch; he had never been so excited to take photos. He enjoys being able to help me with my blog, but he is never exactly super excited to take time out of our short visits to take photos

The fact that the Christmas tree farm was completely empty; they were closed that day but opened just for Bender’s proposal

My sister wanting to do my hair and nails the night before; She wanted my nails to look nice for when I would be showing off my ring

A fully decorated Christmas tree in the middle of a Christmas tree farm; Even after the proposal and everyone popped out of hiding, I did not know that was part of it until they told me

All in all, I am really easy to lie to and trick. Please don’t take advantage of me. Unless you are giving me the most beautiful ring I could ever hope for and presenting me with the perfect proposal.

p.s. thank you to the planning team for helping making everything happen!

And so begins my last Coachella outfit review post! I made it through it all without saying Coachella, ella, ella… Oh, oops.

I’m not going to sugar coat it. The third day was sweaty, nasty, smelly, and I felt like my soul was drained from my body. But, at least I looked cute. Am I allowed to say I looked cute or is that conceited? I suppose having a blog for the sole purpose of posting pictures of myself and my outfits kind of answers that question already.

You’ll notice I don’t have full body shot. I wasn’t wearing shoes during this shoot and it was so hot, we were trying to be as quick as possible. I didn’t think you would want to see how dirt encrusted my feet were. If you do, then you’re weird and I think you’re on the wrong kind of blog.

Ok, I’ll throw the weirdos a bone!

This outfit was good for the last day because I needed the least amount of clothing and weight on my body. This tank is super light (and sheer, sorry mom!) and these silk shorts were a no fuss, no brainer.

Snoop Dogg was amazing. I have a slight obsession with Snoop. And I’m totally serious. It was the only show at the time (because, obviously) so literally everyone at the festival was jammed into one area. A little claustrophobic, a lot smelly & sweaty, and even more amazing.

Sorry for the wrinkled shirt. I was kind of in the middle of the desert for three days, interestingly enough, without access to an iron. Go figure.

Yes, I did indeed inspect this photo closely for unsightly body hair before posting. It passed. Barely.

And so ends my Coachella outfit round up – a whole two weeks after the music festival ended. I’m not a slacker. Really. Regular outfit posting will now resume and although it will be pedestrian, at best, compared to the epiciness that is Coachella, I begurge welcome you to stick around with me!

I’m probably the only blogger still doing Coachella outfit recaps huh? And I still have one more after this. It’s the blogger equvialant of keeping your Christmas lights up until April. Which I secretly wish I could do. But only with the fancy white little lights. The big colorful ones should come down at an appropriate time. I must subconsciously want to be back there. Like every weekend. Ok, it’s not subconscious. I do want to be back there. Like everyday.

The big hat is back! I bought this last fall and never wore it. But, honestly, if you can’t wear a giant hat at Coachella, then where can you wear it?

This was by far my favorite look of the weekend. I had a floppy hat, a maxi skirt, and a floral bustier. What more do I need in my life?

My hair is a little nappier, skin a little dirtier, and eyes a little more under eye baggier than in the first round of photos. It was the second day, which felt like the second week, so I think I get a pass.

By the way, I totally deemed this my Florence and the Machine outfit and planned to wear it the second day because that’s when she was playing. In reality, she played the third day. Oops.

I must confess that these photos are lying to you. I did not wear those boots around all day. I wore them the entire first day, but when I put them on and my feet started screaming bloody murder, (not a true story) I had to switch them out for sandals for the rest of the weekend. But, I thought they looked good, hence why I planned to wear them in the first place, so you get the original outfit.

Showing off your arm pits is sexy, right?

The hat did turn out to be a little troublesome all day long, and by night, it seemed pointless to wear a huge floppy hat, so I switched it out for the hat I wore the first day. There are pictures of this outfit with that hat, but they are not appropriate for this blog, which I deem family friendly, because I may, or may not, have had liquid sustenance that night, and that may, or may not, make my face a little more than red and my eyes a little more than droopy and blood shot.

I survived Coachella. I don’t mean that I just survived a three day music festival, I mean that I survived camping in 104 degree heat in the middle of the desert for four days. I survived in a sauna tent with 6 people, waking up no later than 7 a.m. each day because I was choking on my own sweat. I survived dance parties, sunscreen in my eyes, dirt in every crevasse of my body, and UV rays stronger than if you were on the sun itself. And it was the best weekend ever.

If you have not been to a music festival, and if concerts, camping, and dirty, sweaty people are your thing, I highly recommend going to at least one in your lifetime. It is an experience that you cannot miss. I will be going again.

I wore this outfit the first day of Coachella. I actually bought the dress the day before I left as a last minute outfit change because the shorts I was planning on wearing didn’t fit and in my last minute panic mode to buy out the travel section of Target for my Coachella survival kit, I passed this dress and knew it was the one, for day one. (Run on sentence for the win!)

Do you see how closely packed all the tents were? I would step out of my tent in the morning and basically into our neighbors tent. We had no choice but to make friends.

Those feathers are earrings hanging off my necklace. It’s as close to a DIY as I am going to get. As much as I want to be, I am just not crafty.

The first day was awesome. Breakfast was had, morning beer pong was played (the girls played “hydration pong” with water, while the boys lived dangerously on the edge with beer), pictures were taken, concerts were seen, and dance parities were had.

A few tips for you music festival virgins:

Bring a lot of water. If you are positive that you are bringing enough, bring more

Bring baby wipes. Even if the campsite has showers, you will not want to waste your time standing in line for hours. Baby wipes work miracles even on the most dirt crusted festival goer

You will not see every band that you want to – whether it is because of scheduling conflicts, your own drunken self, or the heat literally not letting you get up. Don’t stress. Enjoy what you can

Learn how to stuff your bra with granola bars because food is not permitted on festival grounds and the vendors on site are expensive.

On the food note, go back to your camp for dinner. It’s a chance to re-charge and regroup

Keep your phone off at night or when you are with your party to save the battery. You’ll need it when you separate to find each other

Professional cameras are not allowed on festival grounds, so as much as I wanted to document all the amazing (like, ah. mae. zing) fashion that was walking around me, it would not have been great quality with my point and shoot, and honestly, I wanted to focus on having fun and not on what other people were doing.

I am seriously overwhelmed by the amount of visitors and comments I’ve gotten over the last couple days. I know it’s not a lot compared to the big time bloggers, but my best day was January 4th with 174 unique vistors and my last blog has over 60 comments. That amazes me. When I started this blog, I figured it would only be me and a few of my friends reading it. I really love visiting other blogs and leaving encouraging comments and it makes me really excited to see that other bloggers appreciate my blog as well. So, thank you!

I wore this to get together with my friends; a movie, dinner, game kind of night. We’ve been having these types of get togethers since high school. While other high school kids went out and partied, we stayed home and played games and watched movies. Because we are awesome. In all honesty though, those end up being some of the best times.

I know I just ranted on about how New Year’s resolutions aren’t my thing, but goals and improving my life, including my outlook on life, are. As I’ve said before, I am currently in a long distance relationship and it’s hard. Sometimes I let it get the best of me and I become moody and withdrawn from life, but I’ve realized that is a waste of time. I need to learn that it is ok to be happy and have fun, even if I am desperately missing my boyfriend. So my goal for this year, for life actually, is to not let bad situations determine my outlook on life.

Also, to have fun. Because I am totally comfortable staying at home and being the responsible one, but I can’t be an old lady at 25!

Ok, let’s shake off that sappy, feelings thing (I swear, I’m such a guy. I hate feelings!) and get back to the real issue of this post. Apparently, my bangs decided to sprout wings? Are we in the 70’s? I’m not sure what was up with my bangs that day, I did my normal routine (which is blow dry them while they fly around, with no brush… how can that turn out bad?), but it was a little out of control. I think I’m going to take some scissors to them this weekend. That will teach them!

Also, I was called a one eyed monster after my boyfriend saw this picture. Why do I miss him so much again? Ha! Kidding ;)

Borderline trespassing in this picture by the way. We were shooting pictures in the alley behind my house and the gate to a neighbors yard was open. If your blinds or door are open, I’m going to look. I’m a creeper like that.

I found these boots in the clearance section at Urban Outfitters and they were the last ones in my size. I’m telling you!

I was laughing because my boyfriend had to hold my coat while he took pictures of me and there wasn’t really anywhere to put it, so he was wearing it on his head the whole time. I could not stop laughing. I should have taken a picture of him.